Stay away from Coinbase

[odolvlobo]

I have used Coinbase to buy thousands of dollars worth of bitcoins and I have had absolutely no problems at all.

The reports of transactions canceled due to "high risk" are a concern, but I bet they are rare.

The people complaining about having to wait for their bitcoins must be illiterate. The site clearly explains that there is a 5 day hold on purchases for the first 30 days, and that is due to the absurd amount of time it takes the U.S. banking system to do a simple ACH transaction.

[samsam]

Honestly, my biggest problem with Coinbase is they sell bitcoins at inflated prices.

I really wish there was a true exchange in the USA.

[geofflosophy]

I have used Coinbase to buy thousands of dollars worth of bitcoins and I have had absolutely no problems at all.

The reports of transactions canceled due to "high risk" are a concern, but I bet they are rare.

The people complaining about having to wait for their bitcoins must be illiterate. The site clearly explains that there is a 5 day hold on purchases for the first 30 days, and that is due to the absurd amount of time it takes the U.S. banking system to do a simple ACH transaction.

+1 on all points.

Also, if you nag them enough, they will honor your original purchase price on cancelled transactions from what I understand. I've seen a number of examples of this occurring on the forums. It just takes time, support is understaffed.

[TheKLB]

I too was ripped off by coinbase. Bought 10BTC last Friday at $424 each (instant buy). Was sitting on them til while the price was soaring. Come Wednesday, they cancel my transaction. I would have sold while it was hovering at $850. $4,000 profit gone. Just like that. I contacted support multiple times with no response. Also tried from a different email address and they didn't respond. Now any time I try to purchase they cancel the order. Stating it is a high risk transaction. I have made eight purchases from them since January. Now the last 2 canceled and its like I'm on some blacklist. 

[beetcoin]

I have used Coinbase to buy thousands of dollars worth of bitcoins and I have had absolutely no problems at all.

The reports of transactions canceled due to "high risk" are a concern, but I bet they are rare.

The people complaining about having to wait for their bitcoins must be illiterate. The site clearly explains that there is a 5 day hold on purchases for the first 30 days, and that is due to the absurd amount of time it takes the U.S. banking system to do a simple ACH transaction.

+1 on all points.

Also, if you nag them enough, they will honor your original purchase price on cancelled transactions from what I understand. I've seen a number of examples of this occurring on the forums. It just takes time, support is understaffed.

my main concern is that if BTC price rises while you are waiting for the ACH transfer to go through, they might not honor the price since that would cost them quite a bit. on the other hand, if prices go down they would definitely be willing to allow for the transfer. it would be an unfair game.

i don't know if this is happening or not, but it's plausible in my opinion.

[timcoin]

I've had a good experience with Coinbase. They've had some growing pains (like every other bitcoin exchange and service), one of which is sometimes running out of bitcoins during peak buying periods. I've had to email them a couple times, but they've fixed each problem I've had. Overall I trust them more than most bitcoin services.

[nexern]

why 

[geofflosophy]

I too was ripped off by coinbase. Bought 10BTC last Friday at $424 each (instant buy). Was sitting on them til while the price was soaring. Come Wednesday, they cancel my transaction. I would have sold while it was hovering at $850. $4,000 profit gone. Just like that. I contacted support multiple times with no response. Also tried from a different email address and they didn't respond. Now any time I try to purchase they cancel the order. Stating it is a high risk transaction. I have made eight purchases from them since January. Now the last 2 canceled and its like I'm on some blacklist. 

So they took away coins that they had put into your wallet? Very weird. Try contacting Olaf on the forums, he is sometimes more responsive to those requests.

[caminilegroup]

why 

Elaborate please?

Michael

[uininPeter]

I too was ripped off by coinbase. Bought 10BTC last Friday at $424 each (instant buy). Was sitting on them til while the price was soaring. Come Wednesday, they cancel my transaction. I would have sold while it was hovering at $850. $4,000 profit gone. Just like that. I contacted support multiple times with no response. Also tried from a different email address and they didn't respond. Now any time I try to purchase they cancel the order. Stating it is a high risk transaction. I have made eight purchases from them since January. Now the last 2 canceled and its like I'm on some blacklist. 

When the BTC price is quickly increasing it is high risk for coinbase. It is not exchange and they have to buy the coins from other exchanges themselves - and transfering money there takes time. They call this high risk transaction

[samsam]

I am going to make a small purchase of 0.01 BTC and take screen shots, then I will put up the screen shots of the cancelled transaction if Coinbase refuses to go through with the order.

[odolvlobo]

I am going to make a small purchase of 0.01 BTC and take screen shots, then I will put up the screen shots of the cancelled transaction if Coinbase refuses to go through with the order.

Please show screen shots if they don't refuse, too.

[gracesfall]

I haven't purchased any BTC yet at CoinBase. I use it predominantly as my wallet and don't leave any great amount sitting in there for long (not that I have a great amount to leave in the first place). Basically everything BTC that I earn goes into CoinBase then deposited to CEX to buy ghs. I made one transfer from my bank to CoinBase - about $80 - and it took approx. 5 days, including the weekend.

[beetcoin]

I too was ripped off by coinbase. Bought 10BTC last Friday at $424 each (instant buy). Was sitting on them til while the price was soaring. Come Wednesday, they cancel my transaction. I would have sold while it was hovering at $850. $4,000 profit gone. Just like that. I contacted support multiple times with no response. Also tried from a different email address and they didn't respond. Now any time I try to purchase they cancel the order. Stating it is a high risk transaction. I have made eight purchases from them since January. Now the last 2 canceled and its like I'm on some blacklist.  

When the BTC price is quickly increasing it is high risk for coinbase. It is not exchange and they have to buy the coins from other exchanges themselves - and transfering money there takes time. They call this high risk transaction

so when your send your ACH payment to them, they don't actually have the funds yet? how do you know this? this is an issue for the client then.. why would i want to pay for something that someone doesn't even have? that's like asking me to prepay for a service that i haven't even yet received.

[MAbtc]

I haven't used them and don't plan to. I am worried about the constant flow of horror stories about them. Regardless, I always advise people to move their coins somewhere else immediately. 3rd party wallets are always a terrible idea, and I hate for newbies to think that Coinbase is a real wallet.

[BTC_GHD]

Yeah, I have always stayed away from things like coinbase

[BitcoinNews.io]

would expect more from them, given that they are VC funded by the same firm (USV) that funded twitter and tumblr.

[tejon]

I'm interested to hear good experiences had with companies like Coinbase. I am looking to gamble some pounds and wondering who to use to make my first BTC purchase. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

[VirtualCoinBuddy]

I was just thinking on doing business there. :\

[odolvlobo]

so when your send your ACH payment to them, they don't actually have the funds yet? how do you know this? this is an issue for the client then.. why would i want to pay for something that someone doesn't even have? that's like asking me to prepay for a service that i haven't even yet received.

An ACH transaction takes 3-5 days. They don't give you the bitcoins immediately because the ACH transaction can be cancelled during that time. Furthermore, an ACH transaction can be reversed. They must be cautious. Otherwise, scammers will use the banking system to steal money from them and put them out of business.